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To prevent HIV and other blood-borne infections, syringes should never be shared. However, many injecting drug users ignore this warning, thus significantly contributing to the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases. In a recently released study, William A. Zule and several other researchers contend that changing the current syringe design could almost completely eliminate HIV transmission caused by needle sharing.

The researchers show that when the plunger on a syringe is fully depressed, a small amount of fluid remains in an area called the "dead space." Researchers believe that a new syringe design with less dead space can reduce the amount of blood trapped in the dead space by a factor of a thousand. In this way, they are reducing the amount of virus left to transmit the disease. The researchers used a simulation model, to illustrate that changing to low-dead-space syringes could reduce annual HIV infections acquired by sharing syringes to almost zero in eight years.

The researchers acknowledge that there are barriers to making the new syringes available worldwide, but they maintain that changing to low-dead-space syringes could reduce transmission of disease to injecting drug users and their families.

The study, "Are Major Reductions in New HIV Infections Possible With People Who Inject Drugs? The Case for Low Dead-Space Syringes in Highly Affected Countries," was published in the International Journal of Drug Policy (2013; 24 (1): 1-7).

I'm flying off to Sydney next month to do a talk at at the Prince of Wales Hospital, and on behave of BD I will be talking about the benifits of safety needles including this new one, it's pretty exciting stuff.

I'm flying off to Sydney next month to do a talk at at the Prince of Wales Hospital, and on behave of BD I will be talking about the benifits of safety needles including this new one, it's pretty exciting stuff.

ArohaJan

Jan,

Thanks for the work you do. I admire anyone, who can get in front of an audience in the first place, but know what they're talking about. It is exciting. I would have never thought a needle could be designed differently to lessen the chances of infection. Never popped in my mind. Glad so many do think about all these things, and lessen the chances of infection, along with prevention education. I think many medical centers would get on board, in order to lessen the chance of a medical provider being infected from an accidental needle stick.

Thanks Ted, two years ago myself and a rep from BD went to Parliament House in Canberra for a conference with the Health Minister about getting safety needles into the public hospitals and clinics.

I though my talk had fallen on deaf ears because I didn't hear anything, but three weeks ago I got an email from BD to tell me because of our talk with the Minister all public AND private hospitals and clinics in Australia and New Zealand now only use safety needles, they actually listened.

I don't like blowing my own trumpet Ted, but I have to tell you, that really felt good knowing that my talk made a difference and the Australian Health Minister listened to me and put it through Parliament.